Broken Country

I can’t stop thinking about this book. Was it a thriller or a romance? I think, both… plus gorgeous writing. It may be my favorite read of 2025 so far, I’m not entirely sure. At times, I felt frustrated. It felt like a more literary version of The Light We Lost, a book I loved when I was young but felt annoyed by as an adult. It concerns an affair, which always stresses me out. I absolutely hate books where there is cheating. I don’t know if it’s because I get triggered or just irritated. I get angry, and never feel sympathetic to the cheater, no matter how compelling their reason might be. Still, I loved this story so much. Beth is married to a kind and gentle man, Frank. They have a happy marriage, with one central skeleton in their past (their young son died in a tragic accident, several years ago). When a dog attacks their sheep, Beth’s brother-in-law Jimmy shoots the dog. Beth doesn’t realize how this will impact her life. The dog’s owner is Gabriel, her teenage love, who has returned to their village with his young son, Leo. (It does not help that Leo reminds her a lot of her son.) Years ago, Gabriel broke her heart, and Beth is still not entirely over it. Beth finds herself pulled back into Gabriel’s life. Tensions begin to arise between Beth and Frank. Rumors swirl around their small town. The book opens with a death; we race to determine who died and what happened. There is also the love stories between Beth and Frank and Beth and Gabriel. The alternating timelines can be slightly confusing initially, but they make for great storytelling once you settle in. I loved this book so much.